Kevin Muscat has announced he will retire from playing after Melbourne Victory's Asian Champions League campaign, but will not captain the club in his remaining matches.

After a 21-year professional career, highlighted by a decade in Europe playing for Crystal Palace, Wolves, Glasgow Rangers and Millwall and 51 caps for the Socceroos, Muscat will quit after the ACL round of 16 tie in May.

He could even be finished up earlier, should the Victory fail to qualify for the round of 16 through their six group stage matches which start on March 1.

Muscat, 37, said his frustration at being unable to do things on the field and at training that he used to be able to do had prompted his decision to retire.

"After a lot of consideration and deliberation, I kept asking myself 'was it time?, and I realised how frustrated I'd become," Muscat said on Wednesday.

"Turning up for training, not being able to do what I asked of other people throughout my career - and that's giving 100 per cent.

"Increasingly I found I was unable to do that, and when I was able to do that, it took me a couple of days to recover."

Muscat is not eligible to play in the Victory's remaining A-League finals, having received an eight-match ban for a now-infamous challenge on Melbourne Heart's Adrian Zahra which left the youngster needing knee surgery.

Muscat also confirmed he would stand down as Victory captain for the ACL, with Adrian Leijer to lead the side through that tournament as well as during the A-League finals.

He will now become an assistant coach at the Victory, where he is contracted for the next two seasons.

Muscat rated his career highlight as the penalty he scored in the 1-0 World Cup qualifier win over Uruguay at the MCG in 2001.

He has also won two A-League titles with the Victory, and been named the club's best player three times.

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